Several injured Longhorns described as 'day-to-day' by Steve Sarkisian, little clarity at QB offered
A game with the Alabama Crimson Tide can take a toll on a football team, and the Texas Longhorns are certainly feeling that in the aftermath of Saturday’s game.
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Quarterback Quinn Ewers left the game, quarterback Hudson Card hobbled throughout, cornerback D’Shawn Jamison missed the second half with an ankle issue, and running back Bijan Robinson favored his shoulder in the late stages of the game. On Monday, Steve Sarkisian kept his injury update brief and vague.
“Obviously, we’ve got some injuries that are looming that we don’t know,” Sarkisian said. “Whether it’s Quinn, whether it’s D’Shawn Jamison, whether it’s Hudson Card, whether it’s Bijan, quite frankly all these guys are day-to-day. I know you guys are going to want an exact timetable, and you’re going to ask me specifically, and I’m going to tell you now: they’re day to day, guys. It’s day to do. I really don’t know. We’re going to have to monitor them every morning to see where they’re at.”
“The beauty of it for all four of these guys is, it’s nothing structural. It’s not surgery-driven. It’s not broken. It’s not ligament damage. The point being, we’ve just got to monitor them day to day and we’ll see who we can get back and when we can get them back.”
Inside Texas reported on Sunday that Ewers is expected to miss several games due to an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. Inside Texas also reported on Monday that Card could be a game-time decision.
With those details in mind, Sarkisian was asked who took the first-string quarterback reps for the Longhorns in practice following Saturday’s game with the Crimson Tide.
“That’s for me,” he responded, adding no more detail.
The quarterback behind Ewers and Card, at least on Saturday, was redshirt freshman Charles Wright. Though Sarkisian declined to say if he took the first-string reps, he did mention Wright, who prepared to play in Saturday’s game when Card showed signs of injury, has made progress in his two years on campus.
“I give Charles a lot of credit,” Sarkisian said. “He has made strides and leaps and bounds from a year ago this time as a true freshman to where he is today. I think he’s got a good grasp of our offense, a great understanding of managing things. I think that he’s throwing the ball much better and much more accurately. He’s a lot more confident which is needed at that position.”
Could true freshman Maalik Murphy get an opportunity? The answer apparently is no.
“He’s not healthy,” Sarkisian said when asked about him.
No matter who lines up under center on Saturday versus UTSA, the Wildcat package with Roschon Johnson remains an option. It’s a formation Sarkisian has said repeatedly they don’t major in, but he has confidence in Johnson’s ability to take care of business when they run it.
“Anything we ask him to do, he does it,” Sarkisian said. “Whether it’s cover kickoffs, which he was tremendous at Saturday, to blocking, to running, to playing Wildcat quarterback, whatever we ask him to do, he does it. I think he’s more than equipped to handle the things we ask him to in the Wildcat.”
Texas will need to heal up not just for a contest with the Roadrunners, but for Big 12 play. The Longhorns travel to Texas Tech in 13 days to begin an attempt to win the Big 12?
Will those players be healthy in time for UTSA? For Texas, finding out will be a day-to-day process.
